SHAFAQNA – The NYPD will boost patrols around mosques Tuesday after an online meme urged bigots to assault people on what it called “Punish a Muslim Day.”
It suggested readers “bomb a mosque” and “throw acid in [the] face of a Muslim,” among other things, assigning a point value to each vicious act, with “verbally abuse a Muslim” assigned 10 points and “nuke Mecca” topping the list at 2,500 points.
It’s “a hateful attempt to divide us — and it will not succeed,” City Council Speaker Corey Johnson said. But police will “take the utmost attention to make sure nothing happens,” a source said.
The flyer has made its rounds on New York social media, but a majority of shares were by people who oppose “Punish a Muslim Day,” according to police.
There are no credible threats against Muslim houses of worship or community centers at the moment, according to NYPD sources.
Speaking at a rally in Brooklyn Monday, NYPD’s Muslim Officer Society president Abeel Rana said members of his group will be at mosques and major Muslim organizations “just to be on the safe side and be proactive in our community.”
Noor Rabah of the Muslim Civilian Observation Patrol suggested the faithful take extra precautions.
“It’s good for you to have someone with you, to be around company, not to be out late unnecessarily,” he said.
The flyers began circulating in the UK in March, when they were sent to Muslim members of the UK Parliament, prompting a counter-terror investigation by officials there.